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“You picking Mia up tomorrow?” He asked, referring to my little sister.
“Yeah, Melanie and Jim have a date planned so I am going to keep her for the afternoon.”
“Poor Jim,” Rhys laughed.
Jim was Melanie’s lawyer, and surprisingly ended up being the father of her baby as well. It was why he refused to change the paternity test, because he knew there was a chance that the baby Mel was having was his.
I guess it worked out, because he pursued Melanie and gave her everything she wanted. Rhys and I felt bad for him at first, but it seemed to have worked since they were still together and raising Mia together.
Melanie and I still didn’t speak much, and she and Rhys never spoke at all, but through Jim and Rick, she agreed to let me be a part of Mia’s life. In fact, she had gotten pretty cordial with me as her feelings for Jim got stronger and her life seemed to be settling into place. I would never fully forgive her for being absent in my life, but I was thankful she was making different decisions with Mia.
Jealousy was her ultimate motivation when it came to Rhys. She left him heartbroken and it gave her a sense of power. But seeing that I was the one that found him was too much for her, and the main reason she tried getting him back. I hated her for that, but I also felt sorry for her. She never knew how to love anyone more than herself, and in return, she had never been on the receiving end of unconditional love.
Rhys lifted from the couch and grabbed a remote from the coffee table, turning the music on. I thought he would lay back down with me and relax but he stood and put his hand out for me just as the first cords of the song started.
Unchained Melody filled the room and Rhys smiled as I took his hand. “Dance with me.”
Just like my grandpa used to do, those memories were always one of my favorites and my first display of what real love looked like. I blushed a little as Rhys pulled me into his arms and swayed back and forth with me around the living room.
As the song ended, he pulled back and looked down at me, caressing my face and smiling. “I finally thought of what I want my big question to be.”
I tilted my head, almost confused at first because I had nearly forgotten about our one big question. It had been over a year since we met and there were no more questions he could have asked. He knew me better than anyone.
Then he dropped to his knee, and I gasped, realizing instantly what his one question was.
“I saved this one,” he smirked. “I knew one day I would want to ask you this big question and would need to cash in. I fucking love you, Ashlynn Keller. From the moment those gorgeous green eyes locked with mine, I knew I had spent my life looking in the wrong direction. It was like I was finally being given the green light, and a fucking arrow to help point me where I needed to be all along. Not to mention, I had to wait on you to get old enough.”
I laughed and shrugged, letting him take my hand in his. We always joked that when he started playing soccer professionally, I had just started playing recreationally in the youth leagues.
“Ash, baby. Will you marry me?”
“You know it's never been my goal in life to be married, Rhys.” His smile faltered for a minute so I hurried up to make my point. “But goals change, and ever since I met you, I think it's been my goal to have this moment with you. So yes,” tears started pouring down my cheeks as I nodded my head. “I can’t wait to marry you.”
Rhys pulled a ring from his pocket and as he slid the emerald–the color of my eyes–onto my finger, he whispered, “Making you happy is the only goal I have left.”
* * *
2 years later
Rhys
Ash and I didn’t waste a lot of time before we got married. Everything about our relationship had been sped up by our inability to keep our hands off one another and with the promise of a week-long honeymoon, secluded on a yacht, we practically ran down the aisle.
We decided on something simple, and ended up saying our ‘I do’s’ in the center of the Inferno field, surrounded by our family, close friends, and teammates. Colin even got ordained so he could be the one that named us husband and wife.
Then we spent a week on a yacht, but other than leaving the pier, I couldn’t even tell you where we went. Ash and I spent most of our time in the bedroom and when we weren’t in there, we christened every part of that boat that wasn’t inhabited by a crew member.
Since then, we’d moved out of the penthouse and bought a place near the beach. We still had the penthouse when we needed it, but Ash wanted to start fresh–and somewhere her mother hadn’t had sex with me. She never let mine and Mel’s relationship affect us, but even I agreed that the penthouse had been tainted.
Plus, Ash deserved whatever she wanted.
She worked hard, for less pay than she deserved, and did so with integrity and morals that were hard to find when it came to money management. Proud couldn’t even begin to sum up what I thought about her. Not just in her career, but in her relationship with Mel as well.
Mia brought them together in a small way, and even if they were never meant to have a normal mother and daughter relationship, Ash still found peace through her love for Mia. And Mel, to her credit, was raising Mia and allowing Ash to see her as much as she wanted.
I hung a swing in our new backyard and that was where Ash was, pushing Mia in the baby swing, making Mia laugh. With her father being a lawyer, and her mother being a doctor, Mia spent the night with us at least once a week.
Jim and Mel had a weird relationship, and I wasn’t completely sure there was a whole lot of love between them, but for Mia, they were making the best of it. Not that I spent any time with them. Even when Mia turned one, I declined my invite to her party and let Ash go alone. It wasn’t out of resentment, but out of respect to Jim. Mel tried using him, and their daughter, to get me back and I couldn’t imagine how seeing me would make him feel.
